The girl who taught me how to love
by Jane L. Black
Summary: Mal and Harry have a final talk and put the past behind their back.


**This fanfiction is dedicated to Cameron Boyce. May we meet again, forever boy.**

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**_The girl who taught me how to love_**

Someone knocked on his dorm room taking his attention away from the mirror.

Today was the day he was going to meet Audrey's parents and to say he was a nervous wreck was an understatement. He had swallowed his pride and asked Evie to make him something to wear so he wouldn't look like the street rat that he usually did.

Since moving to Auradon, he had put in a few pounds. His cheeks were fuller and he could no longer see his ribs, but his clothes were still the same he had on the island. Uma had once convinced him to go shopping and he had bought a few pieces, but it was still hard for him to use his money. Ben gave all the VKs a small scholarship so they could have a more comfortable life, especially those that were basically orphans. Harry had never had so much money in his life and he was trying to save it for a moment of need. He bought his books and school material; he still hang out with this friends, but he tried to keep the spending to a minimum.

His father had chosen to remain on the Isle of the Lost after the barrier was taken down. He was too proud to accept the king's help like many other villains had done. He still lived in the old shack Harry had grew up in. The teenager would visit from time to time to bring him food, but his father found hard to accept his son's help. So the visits always ended up with Harry having to run for his life or at least to not get hooked.

Sometimes, he considered staying back and helping Hook whose health had seen better days, but, to be honest, he loved Auradon. Never in a million years, had he imagined he would be living like this: full belly and warm in a soft bed.

Surprisingly, he had become friend with the other VKs. Evie was always perky, trying to get him out of his shell; Jay was kind of like Gil, except smarter, so they got along nicely; Carlos was sweet and caring, always ready to help when needed. He also had gotten to know Ben quite well. Despite his initial tries to hate him, he couldn't. The king was kind, fair and polite. He genuinely cared about the VKs and went out his way to make sure they had everything they needed without forgetting his duties to the rest of the people.

Harry also like Jane. She was kind of like Carlos, always smiling, but had this fire in her that made her special. Doug was also a cool dude, always chill, running around Evie and never letting her get under his skin when she was stressed out. Chad... Well, Chad was strange to say the least and he wasn't a big fan of Harry due to his relationship with the girl he loved, Aubrey.

To say that Sleeping Beauty's daughter was special was an understatement. Like him, Aubrey was fighting her evil side. People were still scared of her as much or even more than they were of him. So, one uneventful lunch during a school day quickly became a first date and now they had been going steady for a couple months. Harry really liked her. He liked her wit, her strange sense humor, her unique quirks. He even fond her anger outbursts adorable.

That's why he was willing to go through the biggest embarrassment of his life. He knew their parents and, most of all, her grandmother would look at him funny, making him feel unwelcome and a piece of trash. But Aubrey was so happy they were willing to meet him that Harry couldn't just say no.

He checked himself on the mirror again and, deciding to give up on the tie, he went to open the door.

He was hoping to find Doug, or maybe Evie, holding the suit jacket she had promised him, but he came to face with Mal. "Oh, hi!"

"Hi! Evie asked me to bring you this." Mal explained holding the jacket for him to grab. Harry took it and gave her a awkward smile.

"Thank you." She gave him a smile nod and clapped her hands, trying to look at anything but him. Harry made a move to close the door. "I'll see y-"

"Do you need help with that?" Mal asked abruptly, pointing at his tie.

"Uh-" He hesitated for a moment. Ever since he moved to Auradon, Mal had gone out of her way to avoid him, but to be honest so did he. It helped that she was never alone. "If you don't mind." She gave him an honest smile.

"Not at all." Harry thought that she would just fix it in the doorstep, but Mal pushed him inside and closed the door behind her.

She took her time fixing his tie, her eyes trained on the movements of her hands and Harry tried to avoid looking at her, but somehow he found himself watching how her purple strands glowed under the light.

"There you go." She finally said and he nodded in a acknowledgement, before putting on his jacket and looking in the mirror again.

Hair brushed, check. Eyeliner off - because Aubrey would kill if he went to met her parents with more eyeliner than her - check. Teeth, check. Girl with purple hair watching hi through the mirror, check.

"You look nice." Mal said making him sigh.

"What do you want, Mal?" If his tone of voice had bothered her, she hide it well. "Can't we just go back to pretending that we don't know each other? It was working smoothly." A flash of hurt crossed her eyes.

"I-" She opened her mouth, but quickly closed it again. Shaking her head, she moved towards the door.

He could just kept quiet and let it go. He really could. "Geez, you gone soft." Mal stop back turned to him. "Years ago, if I talked to you like that, you had killed me."

"You know what Harry? FUCK YOU!" She screamed at his face. "I've going out my way to give you space and you-"

"You gave me enough space when you dumped my ass." He commented nonchalantly.

"That was years ago!" She replied.

"I LOVED YOU!" He screamed making her take a step back. "I loved you! I told you! And what did you do? You laughed at my face and dumped my ass! What were your words? _Love is for children, Hook." _He ran a hand through his hair in dispair. "You mocked _me _and crushed my heart. And then you come here and fall in love with the king. How ironic is that?"

"You're being ridiculous." She said, making him laugh.

"And you are pathetic." he replied with a smirk. Mal took two steps and slapped across the face.

"Don't talk to me like that!"

Harry rolled his eyes and made a bow. "I'm sorry your majestic princess queen to be."

She shook her head. "There is no chance we can work this out." Mal walked to the door, but, before she could get it, she turned around. "I actually came here willingly - Yes, because I volunteered to bring you the jacket. Evie never asked me anything - thinking we could put the past behind our backs and become civilized with each other." Harry rolled his eyes. "See? That right there! I can see you do it all time! I sit for lunch, he rolls his eyes; I talk, there goes the eyes again; I breath and, oh, there it is! The famous Harry Hook eye roll!" He tried to think about a smart come back, but nothing came to his mind. He had to be honest, Mal had been nothing but kind and helpful since all the VKs moved to Auradon. He was the only one who couldn't let go of his stupid ego. "I tried, Harry. I really did. I'm sorry we can't get past this thing." She turned to leave again but he took a few steps and grabbed her wrist.

"Wait. You're right." He took a deep breath. "Look Mal, I don't know what the deal is here. I went from hating you, to dating, to hating you again. What am I supposed to do? Be friends? It's weird."

"Well, we were friends once."

He chuckled. "With benefits."

She smiled. "There is still benefits in this friendship." He stared at her eye-wide. "Not like that, you perv!" Mal exclaimed, hiting his arm. "I meant that is always good to have friends that we can count on." She held his hand gently and started to play with his fingers, like she used to do when they dated and she was worried about something. "So, what do say? Friends?"

He though for a moment. Could he do that? Could he really be friends with the woman who broke his heart? He stared into her emerald eyes and remembered when the times were easier. He was bad and she was bad. They could be bad together and they would've been awesome. But now, they couldn't afford to be bad, because life is better when you are good.

The good thing about their friendship on the Isle was that shared other interests other than evil. They could sit for hours on the docks, watching the skies and talking about the stars; They could sit down and share a book between them, especially if was about Greek mythology; they could stay a whole afternoon drawing and panting in silent, even though Harry sucked at it.

"I think I can do that." Mal beamed at him and he couldn't hold back a smile.

They stayed in silent for a moment, unsure how to act now. They tried to avoid to look at each other, but eventually their eyes met and they erupted in laughter.

"Oh, it's great having you back in my life, Harry." Mal told him, before looking at the watch on her wrist. "I should let you go. Aubrey must be waiting."

Harry cleared his throat. "Yeah, right." He looked around for his phone and wallet and found them on his desk.

"You really like her, don't you?" Mal asked him. He turned around and saw her watching closely the board he had above his bed.

There some picture with Uma and Gil, some with the VKs and one with Aubrey. They were at the beach, him hugging her from behind and looking at her smiling face.

"Yeah, I do." He said with a sof sigh. "She understands with know? The doubt, the fight, the pain. And she makes it all better."

Mal nodded. "Ben doesn't understand it but he tries to. It makes all worth."

Harry stared at her thoughtful expression, before opening the drawer on his night stand and taking out a box. He searched inside of it, before pulling an old picture and climbing on the bed and pinning it to the board, next to his picture with Aubrey.

" Oh Harry." Mal mumbled. It was a photo of the two off them, they were about thirteen and were sitting on the dock at the Isle. His arm was around her shoulders and her head was resting against his chest. Both of them with a shy smile on their faces.

"It belongs there. The girl who taught me how to love and the girl that is keeping my heart forever." He saw how her eyes filled with tears and she climbed onto the bed and threw her arms around him.

Harry pulled her close, taking in her scent and enjoying her body pressed against his.

After a moment she let go of him and climbed down the bed. "I should go."

He nodded and walked her to the door. "Good luck with the in-laws." She wished before kissing his cheek and turning.

On the middle of the hall, Mal turned back and waved at him with a small smile.

Harry waved back feeling his chest much lighter. Aubrey could be his true love, the girl of his dreams, but Mal... Mal would always be his first love.

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**Hey my awesome nerds, **

**I'm back with this cute one-shot. Not the ending you were hoping, but I wanted to do something different. **

**I know I dedicated my fanfiction to Cameron and Carlos is only mentioned in it, but I just had to. I watched Cameron grow and he had so much to do. So much kindness in his hear and he deserved much better. I just hope that his legacy will live forever in our hearts and our everyday actions.**

**Remember: be kind to others, be respectful, be truth to yoursel. Try to make the world a better place.**

**I love you with all my heart. **

**Until our next adventure, **

_Jane_


End file.
